Saving Mio
by lantern of hope
Summary: Kei didn't just disappear into the Chamber of Thorns at the end of Hour 12. When he makes his final stand against Reika Kuze, will he survive? Will the person he cares about most?


Saving Mio

_Either way, it will end...soon._

"There it is." Kei thought to himself as he eyed the Chamber of Thorns. He grasped the Camera Obscura, the only thing standing between him and certain death, firmly in one of his hands. Looking at the four objects in the _other_ hand, Kei was sure that there was still hope.

Kei had endured the crushing tiredness that had haunted him in his waking hours and _her_ attempts to crush his throat at night, pouring through text after ancient text, searching for a way to stop her. It hadn't been easy, but he had found enough references to the stakes that kept the priestesses from stirring in their slumber to know what he had to do. He had found four of them, one for each of her limbs, and a hammer to nail them in. His journey was almost over; soon, Reika Kuze would rest in peace.

They were clearly all there, but Kei counted the stakes once more anyway. He had to make sure everything was perfect. He had told Rei that he would save her, and himself, but Kei's errant thoughts couldn't help but remind him of the _real_ reason that he had ventured into hell.

"Mio." Thinking of her warm, trusting face made Kei feel too ashamed of himself to look at his own reflection in the water. "For so long, I've failed to protect you. I couldn't help you when you disappeared into Minakami, and when you came back, Mayu was gone. And when Reika took you from me and warped your mind, you were always just out of my reach. But I think, now, I can finally fix that."

Kei reached into his jeans' pocket and drew out the old photo he had of her, from a time before the spirit world had invaded them all. He always kept it with him.

"Reika won't get to you, Mio. I promise you, our problems will end."

The water rippled and reflected his footsteps as Kei approached the monolith ahead. The door was ajar, and Kei didn't allow himself any time to let doubt set in. Taking a final clear breath, Kei stepped into the darkness.

The room was completely dark but for the crack of light shining through the chamber door, and Kei suddenly felt as if his chest were caught in a vice when he tried to drag himself into it. The air inside was humid and heavy, and Kei could barely walk through it, let alone breath it.

"The miasma..." Kei muttered, choking on the haze. He recognized the feeling, but it had never been this bad before. "...I have to hurry."

Kei swallowed hard, trying to keep his focus. The horrid groups of half-dead priestesses lining the room all looked similar, but Kei knew exactly what to search for. Reika would have no stakes, and he knew her appearance all too well.

Sure enough, his memory led him to her. She was lying in the center of the chamber, her face unmistakable.

"We...we did it Mio..." Kei almost cheered, but the miasma was too thick, and he let out a brief cough instead. He brought up the first stake and approached her.

"Once the rite is conducted," Kei chanted, reciting what he had read, "the priestess will sleep...for eternity and...and..."

And then Kei's plans shattered like mirror fragments. He had a clearer look at Reika now, including the four stakes pinning her to the ground perfectly.

"It...can't be." Kei dropped his own stakes to the ground in shock. He stumbled back in disbelief as two weeks of research crumbled before his eyes.

"It can't be!" Kei shouted. His efforts had been hopeless the entire time, and he knew it.

Then bad became worse as Kei realized the risks he had taken by coming down this far. He heard the sound of hammer meeting stone, and it was coming from Reika's stakes. They vibrated with the shock of the unseen hammer, but when one of the stakes finally moved, it moved up..._away_ from Reika's limbs! Then it moved again, and again, until the stake fell to the ground with a sickening _clang_!

Kei's frustration became panic as three more stakes joined the first one on the ground. Had Reika played along to lure him this far? Either way, her body was beginning to twitch, and her tattooed eyes were wide open, and fixed on him.

His body engulfed by dread and monochromatic light, Kei turned and ran for _Mio's_ life, only to have the door slam shut in his face. The room was now completely dark, but Kei could still hear her in the distance, slowly dragging herself off the ground. She was still fixated on him; he could feel the withering pulse of her gaze.

Kei's heaving breath became ragged and labored as he felt an icy chill envelop him. Even being in the same room as Reika was killing him. Lost in the darkness, his resolve completely melted. Even the camera seemed hopeless, the crimson filament glaring in every direction that he pointed it.

"No...this can't be happening!"

_It hurts._

"I can't die here!"

_I've found you._

"I can't..."

_You can't escape me._

"Mio!"

_Don't give up..._

That last voice wasn't Reika, and it certainly was nothing that Reika would say. He didn't know where he had heard it, whether it had come from nearby, from thousands of feet above him, or if he had just finally lost it. Either way, he wasn't dead, not yet.

Kei reached into his pocket, searching for her picture to give him inspiration, even if he couldn't see it. Instead, he found something more useful: a spare purifying candle that he could've sworn he had already used. Not wasting time, Kei whipped out his lighter and flicked it as fast as he could, hoping to light the candle before it was too late. Every time the lighter flickered, illuminating the space in front of him for a fraction of a second, Reika appeared a little closer to him.

A miracle; Kei's lighter finally sparked into action as Reika's arm and paled eyes extended through shadow. She tried desperately to swat the flame out, but Kei moved too quickly and set the candle ablaze. The inky cavern exploded with waves of blue light, enraging Reika and irritating her already agonized eyes. As her power briefly dispelled from the room, the stone door creaked open, an opportunity that Kei eagerly seized.

Bursting out from the Chamber of Thorns, Kei literally hit the ground running as he tore across the gulf of the cavern. He didn't like the idea of having to run, but without a plan to end the Tattooed Curse, fighting Reika was pointless. If he escaped, he could at least come back later with another plan.

BANG!

His victory short lived as expected, Kei looked back as Reika materialized on the interior side of the doors. Too angry or too consumed by memories to remember her own ghastly form, Reika elected to force the doors open rather than pass through them. They both rattled and groaned as Reika pushed them wide open with haphazard movements of her arms. Hearing the ceiling rattling above them, Kei ducked and dodged to avoid the stones and debris that fell as Reika loomed through the doorway with hatred tattooed onto her face.

_No one will survive! _Reika roared at him from the distance. _No one!_

About to give chase, Reika's eyes suddenly widened as she passed over something unfamiliar. He had dropped it, and from the warmth it carried, it was precious to him. Picking it up, Reika studied the small piece of paper. It was a face...the image of a person...a person that she had _seen before_.

Kei looked back to see that Reika wasn't following him. Casting one final haunting smile in his direction, Reika vanished before his eyes, and the cave became silent again. Kei stared at the place that she had stood in, baffled as to why she had not come after him...

...until he realized that he had dropped the picture for her to find, and that she was now coming after someone else.

"No...not her, not Mio!" Kei's run became a sprint as he departed the cavern. Still bound by mortal shackles, Kei had to trek back through the entire mansion while Reika floated through ceilings and walls. She would reach Mio ten times sooner than him, and deep down he knew it.

It was dark when Kei reached the confinement room, the place where he had found her before. He couldn't seem to catch his breath as he entered, nor could he shake the vexing weight from his heart.

Daring to look inside, Kei found the room to be empty. Nearby, however, a door leading further into the Manor's interpretation of Mio's memories was slightly ajar.

Holding out hope that Mio had escaped, or not been discovered yet, Kei burst through the door, and every successive door after it, with unending vigor. Every spirit that got in his way was either ignored or vanquished by his camera.

As Kei worked his way further and further into the darkness of the Manor, past the Rope Temple and into an underground tunnel that had never been open before, Kei began to fear that he would soon see the exact source of Mio's dementia.

_Stop! If you follow the dead, you won't come back!_

The warning, its voice sounded like Rei's. Kei suspected that this was the only warning he would ever get, but he ignored it. He had come too far now to let fear compromise his last chance at saving Mio.

After what seemed like miles of vile corridor, the path opened up to reveal a vast cavern about the same size as the one that the Chamber of Thorns presided in, only this one was even darker: lit only by three coal braziers set out in the center. Between them was an enourmous pit that radiated the same omnipresent terror that the Chamber of Thorns had. Kei recognized it from his folklore books.

"The Hellish Abyss!" Kei marveled at the replica that Mio's memory had produced. It looked exactly as he had expected it to.

_"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."_

Mio's voice; it was coming from just a few yards ahead. As Kei stepped forward cautiously, a grisly sight met his eyes, the same one that Mio was staring at. Up above them, hanging from a massive Torii gate, was the lifeless body of a girl with a leg bandage that Kei would recognize anywhere. He had found the source of Mio's curse. He had found Mayu.

"Oh...my...god!" Kei turned away in disgust, retching on the floor. It was all he could do to stop his own curse from drawing him into a psychotic breakdown, but he forced himself to remember the goal at hand: Mio was still alive!

The hair of his neck standing on end, Kei crossed under the gate, almost paranoid that Mayu's body would fall off and strike him. She remained airbourne, though, and a few seconds later Kei was a mere ten feet from Mio, closer than he had ever been during the time that they were cursed.

Her curse in the advanced stages at that point, Mio was oblivious to her surroundings, aware only of the dear sister that hung limp before her. She didn't even notice Reika, who had been waiting patiently behind her with a soulless frown on her face. When she heard Kei emerging from the corridor, she looked up, her hooded eyes gazing at him in judgment.

"Get away from her!" Kei ordered immediately. He tried to sound strong, but they both knew that Reika had the upper hand.

_"No one survives this curse." _Reika cooed. Kei's reply was cut short when Reika wrapped her hands around Mio's slender neck and began to squeeze. Snapped out of her delirium by the agony that shot through her, Mio cried out.

"Stop!" Kei shouted, but his command that fell on uncaring ears. Reika continued to scowl at him as she pulled her captive closer, depriving her of precious air. Mio became frenzied, clutching at her throat trying to dislodge Reika's hands, but that only made the choke tighter.

As red lacerations appeared on Mio's neck, Kei panicked and raised the camera, preparing to take a desperate shot. Reika was ready for it, though, and before Kei could act, she lifted Mio off the ground and held her out over the chasm in the center of the room. Should Kei dare to act, Mio would face a long drop to her death.

Paralyzed by fear, Kei lowered the camera, knowing that he couldn't use it now. But what could he do? Mio was still suffocating, and her attempts to draw breath came out as nothing more than despairing squeals. Kei's mind raced as he searched for something, _anything_, that could save her.

"Please, Reika, let her go! I'm sorry for the pain that you endured in your life, but don't take it out on her! I don't want to see anymore!"

Reika leered with self-satisfaction at hearing someone other than her utter those words, but it still wasn't what she wanted. Deciding that the man needed more...motivation...Reika turned back to Mio, and dropped her.

In that split second, Kei knew what he had to do.

"Take me instead!"

Reika quickly bent down and caught Mio by the arm before she could plummet to her doom. That had been what she wanted to hear. Lifting Mio out of the pit, Reika tossed her callously onto the dirt in front of her, then stared forward to regard Kei. He gazed back at her with defeated eyes, something in him having been broken.

His appearance mirroring the crushing conviction of downfall, Kei sank to his knees, his head downcast. Reika didn't allow him peace and coasted toward him. Blue wisps of mist flicked Kei's face as Reika bent down and grabbed him by the shirt collar, lifting his head up so that she could stare into his eyes. She wanted him to say it again.

"I...I can't take it anymore, Reika...you win. Do whatever you want to me, but _please_...let Mio go free."

A sadistic smile spread across Reika's face. For days she had chased him through the manor, tormenting him more every day. Having finally found his breaking point, Reika nodded to indicate that she would accept his offer.

Lifting Kei back onto his feet, Reika turned back to the Hellish Abyss, pointing a bony finger at it with simple motive. Instead, Kei turned to Mio, currently crumpled in a heap on the floor.

"Can I please have a moment first?" Kei pleaded. Reika rolled her eyes and stepped back. Kneeling down, Kei examined Mio to make sure she was breathing. She was okay, but she was shivering from the dreadful cold and crying softly. Fighting the urge to cry himself, Kei spoke.

"I'm so sorry, Mio, but I won't be here for you when you finally wake up. I can only hope that Rei will be strong enough to end this curse, but until then..."

Kei stopped. Turning his head subtlely, he peered at Reika out of the corner of his eye to make sure she wasn't listening. To his relief, her gaze had been drawn by a single crimson butterfly that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. It was almost as if the thing wanted to distract her.

Kei turned back to Mio and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Mio, my death can save you, or at least buy you some time. I'm sure of it, but I need to know that you won't go back to moping in a trance when I leave. Look at me, talk to me, anything!"

Sniffling and wiping her eyes, Mio squinted up at him. Against the darkness, Kei's bright face almost hurt her eyes. He couldn't tell if she recognized him or not, but at least she was aware.

"What happened to Mayu wasn't your fault, Mio. I've never known you to be anything but the strongest girl in the world. These _things_ killed her, not you. Please, promise me you'll stop blaming yourself. Please..."

Mio drew her arms around him and pressed herself against him in a delicate hug.

"I...I will...try..."

Satisfied, Kei pulled himself away from her and approached the chasm. Reika, no longer distracted, watched intently, not wanting to miss a moment.

As he gazed into the darkness below, Kei couldn't help but think about Reika one last time. Both had devoted their deaths to helping people, which they had failed to do in life. He and her had been cut from the same stone.

Another thing he couldn't help but do, was _smirk_. Reika had bought into his moping. The acting lessons he had taken in high school were paying off. No one but him knew it at the time, but he had found a way to give Mio more than just hope.

Kei relaxed his body and allowed himself to fall. It was going to be a long eternity for him, but he knew that Mio might survive. In that, he found one final reason to smile as his life ended.

Reika stared into the depths of the pit. She shook her head at the deluded fool who had given his life for no reason. In that way, she regarded them as similar as well. Now that he was dead, Reika saw no reason to honor their agreement. She turned to Mio, intent on giving Kei some company in the afterlife.

Mio couldn't believe her eyes.

"But...but you agreed...!"

_"__No one__ will survive." _Reika hissed, striding toward Mio and reaching for her throat. _"No one!" _

Mio screamed and shuffled away from her on all fours, until a crimson spark in front of her caught her attention. The single butterfly from earlier had landed in front of her, beating its wings enthusiastically, perched on top of the _unbroken_ Camera Obscura that Kei had allowed to roll out of his hands. Mio's eyes lit up as she saw a new way to mourn the dead in her family.

Reika bent down to seize Mio's throat, only to find _herself_ stumbling back dumbfounded as Mio stood up, glaring at her with the camera raised. The **camera**; she'd forgotten about it!

"You. Can't. Hurt. Me. Anymore!" Mio shouted, her contempt obvious. Ecstatic vengenace flowed through her as she shoved the cameras lens in Reika's face and hammered the flash. The cavern erupted with spectral light as Reika teetered back toward the Hellish Abyss. Mio advanced and fired again. Reika howled in pain and staggered back further, unable to get her bearings. A third flash, and Reika was at the very edge of the chasm.

_"This isn't over!" _Reika snarled, but Mio ignored her. A final flash, and the cavern went dark as her iridescent body vanished over the edge. She toppled into the same abyss that she had watched Kei end his life in, shouting curses at the man who had found one final way to infuriate her.

Now alone once more, Mio lowered the camera, gasping for air. Staring out at the empty abyss, Mio felt the pain and joy that came with being alone. No one to hurt you, but no one to comfort you.

When she tried to stare back at the place where Mayu's body had been hanging, the butterfly flew so close to her face that its crimson flash blinded her. Rubbing her eyes, Mio remembered her promise and looked back-not toward the body, but toward the exit.

She was alive. At least for now, even though Reika would come back. Deciding not to wait for that to happen, Mio took her leave, allowing herself to smile for the first time in months. She winced as the scarlet tattoos shifted on her body, but for once, they were receding.

Before the cave was completely out of sight, Mio looked back and uttered one final phrase that echoed through the dark.

"Thank you...Kei."

So concludes the life of Kei.

Just as a note, for those people who are reading my "Lost in Time" story right now, sorry if I have been neglecting that story lately. I had to get this one finished first, but I'll be back to updating the other story soon. Promise.

Hope you have enjoyed. Reviews will be appreciated.


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